WOKWI Arduino Raspberry Pi Pico ESP32 simulator

Wokwi – An Arduino, Raspberry Pi Pico, and ESP32 board simulator

Wokwi is an online simulator for Arduino, Raspberry Pi Pico, and ESP32 boards, or even your own custom microcontroller board designed to learn programming without the actual hardware. My girlfriend’s daughter has just attended a free 5-day online course about AI, IoT, ESP32, MicroPython, and more organized by King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL) and IMAKE Innovation, a STEM education company in Thailand. I was told they had some homework for ESP32 as part of the course, so I asked her whether she wanted an ESP32 board. But she said no need. So then I asked how to program the ESP32 without the board, or do they have a simulator? And indeed I was sent the screenshot below along with a blurry video showing the LED display updated as the program runs in the web browser. Considering ESP32 boards are so cheap and external modules or a breadboard are […]

ESP32 video composite library

ESP32 Composite Video Library outputs PAL, SECAM and NTSC, supports LVGL

It’s been possible to use the I2S for video output on ESP8266 and ESP32 chips for years, but aquaticus’ ESP32 Composite Video Library is may simplify the task of outputting PAL, NTSC, or SECAM video signals from any Tensilica-based ESP32 platforms. The library does not require any external hardware, and you can just connect an RCA connector to GPIO25 (I2S data) and GND, plus integration with the LVGL library makes it easy to create graphical user interfaces as showcased with the captures below.   The library supports grayscale video output (no color at this stage), multiple resolutions from 384×288 to 720×288 at up to 25 or 30 Hz, six different pixel clocks for PAL/SECAM and NTSC, as well as six framebuffer formats with namely RGB565, RGB332, Grey 8 bits/pixel, Grey 4 bits/pixel, Monochrome 1 bit/pixel, and LVGL monochrome 1 byte/pixel. You’ll find the source code for the ESP32 Video Composite […]


microByte ESP32-portable-game console 1.3-inch display

microByte ESP32 portable game console comes with a 1.3-inch display (Crowdfunding)

We’ve previously seen programmable, portable game consoles powered by Espressif Systems ESP32 processor with the likes of ODROID-GO or WiFiBoy32 both equipped with a 2.4-inch display, and design to play retro games or create IoT projects with a small display thanks to I/O headers. But if for some reason, you’d like an even more compact ESP32 portable game console based on the WiFi & Bluetooth SoC, Byte-Mix Labs microByte may be what you are looking for thanks to a tiny 1.3-inch square display. microByte specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-WROVER-E module with ESP32 dual-core processor @ 240 MHz, 8 MB PSRAM, 16 MB flash, and integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antenna Storage – MIcroSD card slot Display – 1.3-inch ST7789 IPS Screen with 240 x 240 pixel resolution, 60 Hz max refresh frequency Audio – On-board speaker powered by a MAX98357AETE+T I2S amplifier Controls – 13x onboard buttons with 8x Inductive direction […]

ESP32 PDP-11 mini replica

Mini replica of DEC PDP-11 computer runs 2.11 BSD UNIX on ESP32 SoC

The relatively popular Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) PDP-11 16-bit minicomputers started selling in the 70s, and were still available in the earlier 90s. While being stuck in Europe due to COVID-19 restrictions, Jeroen Domburg (aka Sprite_tm) decided to design a tiny replica of a DEC VT102 PDP-11 terminal based on ESP32 wireless SoC and running 2.11 BSD UNIX through SimH PDP11 emulator. Jeroen had to do significant work to make SimH works on ESP32 however, with notably the need to optimize the memory footprint: Obviously, ‘just port SIMH to an ESP32’ is a bit of a understatement for the effort that was needed. Even while SIMH is a pretty nice program when it comes to not using any unique APIs, it still is a system developed for a full-blown workstation and assumes RAM is cheap and plentiful. In order to get it running on an ESP32 and still have some […]

ODROID-GO

ODROID-GO is an Arduino Compatible, ESP32 based Portable Gaming Console Kit

When I first saw Hardkernel made ODROID-GO portable gaming console, I immediately thought they did a Linux device ala PocketCHIP, since so far the company has only designed Android & Linux development board. But ODROID-GO game console is actually based on Espressif ESP32 WiSoC,  programmable with the Arduino IDE, and launched to celebrate Hardkernel’s 10-year anniversary. ODROID-GO specifications: SoC – Custom ESP32-WROVER module with ESP32 SoC @ up to 240 MHz, 16 MB Flash, and 4MP PSRAM Storage – micro SD card slot connected via SPI Display –  2.4″ 320×240 TFT LCD (SPI) Connectivity – WiFi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz – 2.5GHz, Bluetooth 4.2 BR/EDR, BLE Speaker – 0.5Watt 8Ω Mono USB – 1x micro USB port for charging (500mA) and USB-UART communication Expansion Port – 10-pin header with  I2C, GPIO, IRQ at 3.3Volt Misc – Buttons: Menu, Volume, Select, Start, A, B, Direction Pad Battery –  3.7V/1,200mAh Li-Polymer good for […]

Adafruit Fruit Jam Mini RP2350 Computer

Adafruit Fruit Jam – An RP2350 mini computer running classic Macintosh

The Adafruit Fruit Jam is a credit card-sized RP2350-powered mini computer that is designed to run classic Macintosh through the uMac emulator. It supports System 2.0 up to System 7.5.5, 720p video via DVI, audio, and USB keyboard and mouse. Built around the Raspberry Pi RP2350 MCU, the Fruit Jam board also features an ESP32-C6 wireless module and offers DVI output via the RP2350’s HSTX interface, USB-C for bootloading, a microSD card slot for storage, and an onboard TLV320DAC3100 I2S audio DAC for stereo headphones and a mono speaker. There’s also a 16-pin GPIO header, NeoPixels LEDs, tactile switches, and STEMMA QT and JST connectors for expansion. These features make this board suitable for retro emulation, educational projects, and lightweight standalone computing. Adafruit Fruit Jam specifications: Microcontroller – Raspberry Pi RP2350B CPU Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 @ 150 MHz with Arm Trustzone, Secure boot OR Dual-core RISC-V Hazard3 @ 150 MHz […]

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Renesas RA2T1 microcontroller (MCU) group

Renesas RA2T1 low-power Cortex-M23 MCUs target BLDC/PMSM motor applications

Renesas has recently launched the RA2T1 group of low-power motor control MCUs, built around a 64 MHz Arm Cortex-M23, for low-cost single-motor applications like power tools, fans, and home appliances. Designed for Brushless DC Electric Motors (BLDC) and Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (PMSM), the RA2T1 supports both trapezoidal and FOC control techniques, thanks to its integrated 3-channel Sample and Hold (S&H) circuits that enable accurate 3-phase current detection. It also includes PWM shutdown features and various analog and digital peripherals in compact packages as small as 4×4 mm QFN. Previously, Renesas introduced the RA8T1, also a motor control MCU based on the Cortex-M85 core with Helium instructions and DSP extensions. Ideal for AI-enhanced motor control in industrial and robotics applications. Around the same time, Infineon launched the PSOC Control C3x series, with real-time motor control and security features along with fast ADCs, high-resolution PWM, and PSA Level 2 compliance. Renesas […]

FOSDEM 2025 Schedule Embedded

FOSDEM 2025 schedule – Embedded, Open Hardware, RISC-V, Edge AI, and more

FOSDEM 2025 will take place on February 1-2 with over 8000 developers meeting in Brussels to discuss open-source software & hardware projects. The free-to-attend (and participate) “Free and Open Source Software Developers’ European Meeting” grows every year, and in 2025 there will be 968 speakers, 930 events, and 74 tracks. Like every year since FOSDEM 2015 which had (only) 551 events, I’ll create a virtual schedule with sessions most relevant to the topics covered on CNX Software from the “Embedded, Mobile and Automotive” and “Open Hardware and CAD/CAM” devrooms, but also other devrooms including “RISC-V”, “FOSS Mobile Devices”, “Low-level AI Engineering and Hacking”, among others. FOSDEM 2025 Day 1 – Saturday 1 10:30 – 11:10 – RISC-V Hardware – Where are we? by Emil Renner Berthing I’ll talk about the current landscape of available RISC-V hardware powerful enough to run Linux and hopefully give a better overview of what to […]

Boardcon MINI1126B-P AI vision system-on-module wit Rockchip RV1126B-P SoC